30 Under 30: Food & Drink

Meg Gill, 28Cofounder, Golden Road BrewingBeer, it's clear, isn't just for dudes. Women are drinking more of it. And as Meg Gill proves, they're making more of it, too. Amid America's craft beer explosion—more than 2,000 at last count—FORBES reckons that Gill, 28, is the youngest female brewery owner in the country. And her Los Angeles-based Golden Road Brewing is one of the fastest-growing; it produced 15,000 barrels last year and expects to double that output this year. "It's all about finding those relationships to help support the story behind the beer, the beer itself and all the love that goes into getting the beer into the right vessel," says Gill, who spent her time at Yale in the decidedly beer-unfriendly realms of classics study and varsity swimming. Yet she credits the former with her unique outlook on suds: "Latin is about putting pieces of the puzzle together, and the same thing is true of getting beer on the shelf." Gill, who sold beer from an R.V. before cofounding Golden Road with an industry veteran, Mohawk Bend owner Tony Yanow, reaches those shelves by putting her high-end brews—$7.99 for a 16 oz. four-pack—inside aluminum cans. Revenues exceeded $10 million in 2013, and Gill plans to expand her dozen-plus offerings outside her southern California base in 2014.See Full Coverage of the FORBES 30 Under 30 2014